Crop scientists have been able to clone a gene that controls the shape of tomatoes. The gene has been called ‘SUN’. Lead researcher Esther van der Knaap has said that it’s the second ever gene found that plays a huge role in the elongated shape of a number of tomato varieties. It is a discovery that could help in determining the large morphological differences among edible fruits and vegetables.
Tomatoes with SUN gene turned on and knocked out. Photo courtesy
Screen shot of the Tomato Analyzer software program, developed by van der Knaap's lab to generate automated and standardized measurements of fruit shape. Photo courtesy
“SUN” is found to encode a member of the IQ67 domain–containing family. Van Der Knaap said that “they have shown that the locus arose as a result of an unusual 24.7-kilobase gene duplication event mediated by the long terminal repeat retrotransposon Rider. This event resulted in a new genomic context that increased SUN expression relative to that of the ancestral copy, culminating in an elongated fruit shape. Our discovery demonstrates that retrotransposons may be a major driving force in genome evolution and gene duplication, resulting in phenotypic change in plants”.
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